What College Has that High School Doesn’t

The common cliche is that college is a totally different world from high school and that all college freshman are entering into a totally different world once they set foot on campus. Depending on your high school experience, there are a lot of truths and myths in that idea. For the sake of my argument, I’ll mostly be drawing from my own high school experience due to the fact that it was pretty conventional and (almost depressingly) “normal”.

I have almost considered doing this. Almost.

When I think back to this time last year, I remember how much I thoroughly wanted high school to be over. And this wasn’t just a normal case of senioritus, I felt that way for the four years I was enrolled. It wasn’t that I had trouble fitting in or that I was struggling with my academics, I just didn’t feel like I got any kind of satisfaction from it. I mostly saw high school as a “means to an end”, the end being college.

Before I continue, I just want to clarify that I’m almost positive that most people have felt this way about high school as they went through it and it is totally normal. And to those of you on the internet that are current high school students, IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER I PROMISE YOU.

Okay back to my original point:

My freshman year of high school was also my sister’s freshman year and brother’s sophomore year of college so right off the bat, I had their experiences to compare to my own and it just didn’t compare. They were meeting a broader range of people and were able to get involved in organizations that better suited their interests than I could. I knew pretty early on that college was where I wanted to be.

Now that I’m here, does it live up to my expectations? Sort of.

One thing I would tell to younger Ryan is not to assume that college is an immediate and instantaneous portal into adulthood where everyone is super complex and sophisticated and the dorms are nicer than hotel rooms. What can I say, I had pretty high expectations as a 14 year old.

But what college does have is still pretty great and worth being a part of. In closing, high school is good, college is great, and naps are amazing. Have a great week.